Beckham and his in-house creative team helped to design the collection, comprised of briefs, boxers, T-shirts, pajamas, vests and long johns. The line will be available at 1,800 H&M stores and online beginning Feb. 2, 2012.

“Working with a team has always been a key part of my life and I found that to be the same when developing this range. Collectively with my design team we spent time working on the feel, fit and style to ensure the product is not only something I would wear but one which I would be proud to put my name to,” David said in a statement. “I always want to challenge myself and this was such a rewarding experience for me. I’m very happy with the end result and I hope H&M’s male customers will be as excited as I am.”

Beckham, 36, has announced he will be coming back to play for the L.A. Galaxy in Major League Soccer.

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“It was just a rainbow-coloured hairband,” Robson said. “I didn’t see anything about a protest today. I wore it because I believe in equal rights for everyone. That’s it.”

As we reported earlier, Margaret Court has come under fire for anti-gay statements. One group has asked that rainbow flags fly over the Aussie Open court named after her. Robson said the hair ribbon was not in response to Court, though she knew about Court’s statements.

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The readers obviously did that. In response, site owner Chris Ivey immediately removed the site, explained he didn’t mean to be homophobic, and apologized. He wrote on Unicorn Booty’s site:

I came across your website about the shirts. I must admit that I did not think of the fact that these shirts could offend homosexuals. Rather, they were aimed towards LSU fans as a joke leading up to the big game. Seeing now the reaction has opened my eyes to the hurtful nature that this shirt presents towards certain people, and because of this I have taken the site down. I have members of my family who are gay, and in no way do I view homosexual in a negative light as someone’s personal opinion is their own. This was a misguided joke and the site will cease to exist.

I now see the negativity these shirts produced towards homosexuals, and not a joke towards LSU fans. My sincere apologies are to anyone who was offended.

How did the readers respond when he removed the site like they asked, discontinued the T-shirt and apologized sincerely? They attacked him, of course. Why are so many gay people so unforgiving? The guy couldn’t have done more to express his regret. Man, we gotta grow up.

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NFL.com photo

My friend Brent had the best reaction to that growth sprouting from the face of Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, on display before a national TV audience Sunday night:

As soon as I saw Flacco with his attempt to go all gay butch in the 70′s – I knew the Ravens were doomed.

Hah! The Ravens were doomed, losing 31-14 to the Chargers, as Flacco played as ugly as his mustache. Baltimore had been 3-0 since Flacco, normally a good-looking guy, decided to go Fu Manchu. From NFL.com:

“We’re keeping it because I want everybody on the offense to catch on,” Flacco told WNST-AM. “Me and (tight end) Dennis Pitta want some people to start wearing them just to be funny, just to have fun. I mean, it’s getting late in the year and we wanted to have fun with something … and break up the monotony a little bit. Last year, I grew a beard, and this year, I just decided to do this.”

Alex Smith of the 49ers (big winners against the Steelers Monday night) is another great-looking guy ruining things with facial hair that doesn’t work for him, but even he is not as cringe-worthy as Flacco. Now that the mustache has lost, it’s time to break out the razor and find a new way to break up the monotony.

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Speedo claims that swimmers will gain an extra 11 per cent in oxygen economy by wearing the system – allowing them to swim stronger for longer.

It also reduces skin friction drag by 2.7 per cent and full body drag force by 5.7 per cent.

It’s unclear what competitive advantage the suit will have, but swimmers like Michael Phelps (a Speedo spokesman) are jazzed about it. Phelps has certainly been working out and it shows as he modeled a suit in London.

The full-body swimsuit caused all sorts of records to be broken, which created an unfair advantage for swimmers who could afford them. They were also a crime against nature since they covered up some beautiful bodies. The Fastskin is a definite improvement.

Below, British swimmers Liam Tamcock and Rebecca Adlington model the suits (Speedo photos). Click here for more swimmers modeling the suit, including some acrobats.

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And while the team won’ t officially unveil their new uniforms until next week (the logo was leaked weeks ago), Outsports has received a tip (unconfirmed, so it’s just a rumor at this point) that this is the new uniform. The road uniform is to the right; The home uniform is white with orange belt and undershirt, and you can see that after the jump; photos of the home cap hit the internet earlier.

Hat tip to Kelvin Cabrera.

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Savoy Howe, first lesbian in boxing

Imagine gay athletes having to wear pink tutus when they play, or a black athlete being forced to wear a do-rag when they participate. That’s what the Amateur International Boxing Association is trying to do with women, floating the idea that women may soon have to wear skirts in the ring. Women have long worn shorts, just like the men. According to the BBC:

AIBA asked boxers to trial the skirts, which they said would allow spectators to distinguish them from men, but at last week’s European Championships in Rotterdam only two nations – Poland and Romania – had taken on the alternative outfits.

Distinguish them from the men? Who’s confused? The difference between men and women is pretty clear. And even if it weren’t, what’s the need to distinguish them? They’re not boxing against one another. And if you sit down at a female boxing match you know…it’s a female boxing match.

Some great strides have been made recently in the sport. The Olympic Games in 2012 will include female boxing for the first time. But Helen Carroll, head of the National Center for Lesbian Rights sports project, says this is blatant sexism:

This is the most flagrant example of sexism in sports, especially on an international scale, that I have seen in years.  To say that a woman boxer must wear a skirt to be able to tell the difference in the ring between men boxers and women boxers is completely untruthful and absurd.  Let’s recognize what is truly happening in this situation.  Coaches and organizations often promote an ultra-feminization of strong women in sport to market women as sex objects instead of great athletes and to  attempt an image of no lesbians, bisexual or transgender athletes in sport.  Let me ask you, “Who REALLY wants to see a woman box in a skirt?”  The answer to that question tells it all.

It’s one thing to make the skirt an option for athletes; I’m all for putting more decisions in the hands of the athletes. But to force a uniform change on athletes who have been participating in shorts all their lives is horribly sexist.

Hat tip to Helen Carroll.

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Hat tip to Lemonwade.

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“Look at this, that’s embarrassing,” Rodgers said while speaking on his weekly radio show on ESPN Milwaukee. “Page 94 of this GQ thing here, that’s terrible.”

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It was about two years ago that Michael Irvin first talked to me about a secret he’s carried with him for 30 years.

“You know, Cyd, my brother was gay,” he said.

Actually, I didn’t know. And neither did virtually any of Michael’s teammates at the University of Miami, his teammates on the Dallas Cowboys, his colleagues at ESPN and the NFL Network, or anyone in Michael’s life outside of his family and closest friends.

I was honored that a man of Michael’s stature would entrust me with a secret like this. He and I have become close over the last three years, working together on his radio show, as we’ve come to realize our goals in life are the same: Make this world a more loving, welcoming place than it is today. Michael says the work he’s doing now toward that goal is more important to him than his Super Bowl rings. It’s starting to show.

Last December I pitched Out editor Aaron Hicklin a story about straight allies in sports. The impetus behind my pitch was having spent a couple days with Hudson Taylor at the first board meeting of GLSEN’s new sports project. Hudson is a straight wrestling coach at Columbia (and former wrestler at the University of Maryland) who founded the non-profit Athlete Ally. Just hours after pitching Hudson the idea (which he lit up about) I chatted with Aaron at the Viceroy in New York City; He was intrigued.

It wasn’t until April that I got the phone call from Aaron that he wanted the story and fast: August would be a sports issue and this piece on straight allies would be the centerpiece of the issue.

We asked a bunch of straight athletes to participate. Grant Hill didn’t have time. Sean Avery wasn’t doing media interviews. Drew Rosenhaus never replied to a request for Brendan Ayanbadejo. Scott Fujita passed.

Michael Irvin said yes.

In that first conversation about the piece he said it was time to talk about his gay brother, Vaughn. The moment he realized his brother was gay was an impactful moment that dominated much of his life for the next 20 years. It was something he wanted to talk about openly for the first time; And it was in Vaughn’s memory that Michael wanted to fully, openly endorse gay equality and lay out the welcome mat for gay players in the NFL to come out.

In the pages of Out magazine this month, Michael does just that. At one point talking to him about reconciling his religion with his dedication to full equality for gay people I struggled to fight back tears. Rarely have I witnessed anyone, gay or straight, speaking so eloquently and so strongly in support of gay marriage. This wasn’t just a fleeting thought for Michael, this was something to which he’d given deep thought and decided to commit his energy and good will.

The Playmaker also agreed to a photo shoot in Los Angeles in late May. I didn’t know quite what to expect. Out magazine is known for their incredibly beautiful photography often of half-naked men. I told Aaron that Michael would most likely want something stylish and sophisticated.

When Michael walked into the stylist’s realm at the shoot he quickly ripped off his shirt, dropped his pants and went right for an old vintage leather football helmet and shoulder pads. Once the camera was turned on him he tightened his abs and pulled his pants down to show the top of his boxer-briefs. Feeling protective of Michael I pulled him aside and assured him he didn’t have to do anything he didn’t want to do.

“This is what I want,” Michael said. “Let’s get people talking about this issue.”

When Aaron received the photos back in New York he knew he had a cover staring at him from his computer screen.

“I’ve never seen a body look like that,” Aaron said of Michael’s still-chiseled Hall of Fame physique. While Michael retired from the NFL in 1999, he looks like he’s ready to step right back on the field and muscle people around.

For their part, Out magazine put some measurable resources behind the piece in hopes of shaking up the sports world. They had photo shoots in three cities – Los Angeles, New York and London – with five athletes. In addition to Michael and Hudson, Ben Cohen, Nick Youngquest and Mike Chabala are featured athletes in the issue. Aaron also decided to have the rare two-cover issue: While half the printed issues feature Michael on the cover, Ben Cohen graces the other half (right). They both look beautiful.

In addition to Michael’s revelations there are articles revealing Hudson’s plan to get married in Washington DC; Nick’s path to becoming a gay icon; and Mike Chabala’s dedication to equality.

And in an emotional piece, Ben Cohen talks for the first time about how the death of his father, the victim of a bar fight, has led to his foundation to stop anti-gay bullying. It’s a powerful piece, written by Aaron, that underscores how deep and in how many different ways violence and bullying affect us all.

Here’s hoping the issue of Out magazine challenges how some think about the issue of equality for gay people and changes some hearts and minds.

Cover photo by Roger Erickson

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